More than Shoes
by Penguin Pop
Summary: Raven and Robin find they have switched bodies. Now the slightest tasks have become massive obstacles as they assume the other's role. They relish the chance to thoroughly humiliate one another, but know that inevitably, they must spill their secrets...
1. Chapter 1

New fic! It had been brewing in my mind for ages… It's pretty much based on my wondering about the little (turned big) complications that are never mentioned in movies/TV shows/books/all of those when people switch bodies. Like, yeah, it's hard to, say, use their superpowers or try and act like them, but really? I'd be more worried about privacy. Or lack thereof!

Oh yeah, this'll be fun.

Oh yeah, the title – basically it's referring to when you walk in someone else's shoes. Just, you know, if you didn't catch on.

Disclaimer: Don't own Teen Titans or any related items.

_Raven and Robin find they have switched bodies. Now the slightest tasks have become massive obstacles as they assume the other's role. They relish the chance to thoroughly humiliate one another, but know that inevitably they must open up and spill their secrets…_

NOTE: "Raven" will always refer to Raven's mind, and "Robin" will always refer to Robin's mind, regardless of which body they are in.

* * *

**More than Shoes**

_Chapter One_

* * *

Robin liked sunrise. In fact, he loved sunrise. _The promise of a new day – anything's possible. _He loved having time to think and reflect in solitude, and what better time than the morning? A new day, a new beginning, a clear state of mind…

His jet-black hair ruffled in the soft breeze, his cape gently swaying. It was so calm, so peaceful up on the roof of the tower. There were no Titans running around rambunctiously, no bad guys to thwart. He stood alone, looking over the city.

He'd been there for minutes, hours… Time seemed to stand still… just as it did every morning.

Robin wasn't known for his contemplative, quiet ways. He was known for being instinctive, quick to act and impulsive. He was the leader of the Teen Titans, one of the best martial artists in the world, and Teen Queen Magazine's heartthrob of the year. He liked attention (though not so much as Beast Boy) and he loved action. He was stubborn, proud and confident; he jumped at the prospect of a fight and thrived on competition.

'_Something big is going to happen today,'_ he thought to himself. But now that he thought about it, he said that to himself nearly every day. Being a superhero, the claim had entirely lost any value; and even when he wasn't fighting villains or evil monsters, life at the Tower itself was like a soap opera.

"Robin," a voice interrupted his thoughts, making him jump. He instantly turned around, on guard. _Right. Only Raven._

"Oh… hey, Raven… what are you doing out here on the roof so early?" he asked conversationally, relaxing into a casual pose to disguise his initial flinch at her voice. Maybe a bit too casual.

"Asking you if you want pancakes, after Cyborg and Beast Boy decided they were too lazy to come get you and therefore _I_ should go," she said, annoyed. "And it's eleven o'clock, Robin. Even Beast Boy's up. It's nowhere near 'early'."

Robin tilted his head slightly. "Eleven?"

She nodded once. "Eleven."

"Ri-ight. Eleven." Had he really been out there for that long? Sunrise… until eleven o'clock? "Are you _sure_ it's eleven?"

"Yes. Now do you want pancakes or not?" she asked, agitated.

"Er… pancakes?" he made a strange face somewhere between trying to look pleased that she'd offered and utterly horrified at the thought of Raven's pancakes. As Cyborg had said, _the girl did not know how to cook_. The thought of the lumpy, bubbling globs on the griddle was enough to revolt anyone. Raven was infamous for her awful cooking; even more so than Starfire with her alien food. Last time she'd tried to make them it had been nothing short of a disgrace to pancakes. "I… uh… as much as I love '_pancakes_'…"

She glared at him darkly. "Cyborg made them."

His grimace quickly turned into a grin. "Well, in that case…!"

Robin smirked as she stalked off, muttered something along the lines of 'try eating pancakes after I throw you off the roof'. He watched girl as her blue cape swished behind her, then followed. She was just too fun to tease. It was a thrill to get her riled up.

"Wow…" he muttered under his breath. "Eleven?"

"Yes!" she nearly screamed, throwing an object at him.

"Ow!" Robin rubbed his head gingerly. She'd thrown an alarm clock at the back of his head. Really hard. He picked it up, reading exactly eleven o'clock. "Okay, okay, eleven…" His brow furrowed. "Wait. Did you bring that up here just to throw at me?"

Her expression remained vexed; except for the corners of her mouth, which seemed to straighten slightly.

"Hurting people should not be how you get your fun. You need a hobby," he laughed.

She raised her eyebrows slightly suggesting this _was _her hobby. It was amazing how well she could conceal her emotions. She didn't even have a mask. It was even more amazing that he had trained himself to read her emotions even when she _did_ hide them…

"Pancakes are waiting," she reminded him for what seemed like the umpteenth time, as that was nearly all she'd said during the entire short encounter.

"I _know_," he said, slightly annoyed.

"_Someone's_ testy," she said dryly.

"I know! I mean, throwing an alarm clock at my head? Come on!" he laughed. She rolled her eyes. "Okay, okay. Let's go before the pancakes are all gone. And before you throw me off the rooftop."

"Whaaatever."

* * *

Raven shifted her eyes to the right, watching the syrup trickle out of the bottle with slight disgust. It wasn't so much the syrup, but the fact it was going directly down Beast Boy's throat, as Cyborg and Robin cheered. _Boys_.

She then shifted her gaze to her left and realized Cyborg and Robin had in fact been rooting for Starfire, who was chugging mustard in competition with Beast Boy. And winning.

She sighed, looking down at her meal. Why could they never just have a normal, decent breakfast?

"They're better with syrup," Robin said to her, watching amusedly as Raven prodded her pancakes in a bored fashion.

"Whatever," she replied in a slightly rude manner. She felt as if her patience was running thin every time Robin spoke or did something. She felt annoyed with him just for his existence. It was as if he was Beast Boy, only worse. And the most infuriating thing of all was that she had no reasoning for it. She couldn't figure out why.

"Don't want any?"

"How could you tell," she said rather than asked, rolling her eyes. She crossed her arms – a habit of hers.

"Er, you alright?" he asked. _'I want you to stop talking,'_ she thought, exasperated. But he was only being friendly... There was no way of justifying her irritation.

"Fine. Whatever. I'm going to go get the mail," she said, and left breakfast a little too quickly.

"What's her deal?" Raven heard him say after she was out of sight. She sighed. What _was_ her deal?

Leaning against the wall, she decided she had to figure out what it was, right then and there. She closed her eyes, concentrating, and focused…

_Robin - confident, and with reason. He was good at pretty much everything. Was she jealous? _

_He was smart. He could figure most things out with no problem. He could solve most cases and learn things easily. Maybe he didn't pore over leather-bound books the way she did, but he was indubitably bright. He was the only one whom she could truly have a good verbal war with. It was frustrating; a challenge. And she liked it. She enjoyed every moment of it – watching his face as he struggled to find a comeback, the desperation in his voice as the realization sunk in that he was losing, the way he could never just give up._

_Maybe… maybe it was his insufferable pride. His overwhelming confidence, his refusal to accept defeat… it was annoying. The boy just could not admit when he was wrong. He was arrogant; so arrogant it often put others at risk. But why now? Why had it started to bother her now? It had never before – she had tolerated it reasonably well, as she too had a haughty exterior to her. _

_Maybe his actions towards her had changed. Had they? Yes, they had… but it had been in a good way, not a bad way. As hard as she searched for recent changes that might make her dislike him, any changes had been for the better. Now he treated her as an equal. Before, he'd seemed to respect her, but on a different level. Now he was kind to her… he was nice to her. He didn't ignore her, like he used to. He made jokes – he'd become a much closer friend. In fact, he'd become her best friend. Of course, that wasn't saying much, as she only had four friends including himself. She was a loner._

_But he didn't treat her like a loner anymore. He asked her if she wanted to talk. He asked her if she wanted to join in. He even sometimes asked her to help or do chores – something nobody would even consider before. He treated her like she was a normal human being. And even though ninety percent of the time her answer was "no"… he managed to coax her out of her shell one out of ten times. _

_Was it the pressure he now had put upon her? There was pressure now. Pressure to say yes. Pressure to go do something… and maybe have some fun. Fun. It was a foreign word to her up until recently… But ten percent of the time, she gave in and let herself sample the exotic sentiment. And it was all his fault._

_Wait, no. That couldn't be right. She couldn't hate him for that! That was plain stupid. Robin had made her a better person. He'd made her more trusting, more open… was he making her more vulnerable? Was he weakening her?_

_No… she knew now there was nothing to fear but fear itself. By being more trusting and confiding in others, she, on the contrary, became stronger. And he pushed her. He pushed her to talk and to listen. He pushed her in a manner both gentle and effective. He did it by way of example. He, too, was prone to keeping secrets and being distrustful. But he confided in his friends… and he showed her that she, too, could do the same._

_So what was bothering her?_

Raven opened her eyes, knowing she wouldn't find the answer right then. It would come to her later, she supposed. Besides, she didn't want to think about him. She resumed her walk towards the mail.

* * *

"Wow," Robin stated, as Raven came in with a tremendously large package. She was using her powers to haul the box across the floor.

"Dude!" Beast Boy shouted, scrambling towards the package. "Let's open it! What's inside?"

"Let's read who it's from, first," Robin said, smiling slightly, remembering what had happened last time they had opened an anonymous package.

"It is from 'BB and Star's biggest fan'," Starfire read, grinning. "Oh! How pleasing!"

"Oh yeah," Beast Boy grinned. "I've got lots of fans. This guy or girl hasta be pretty conceited to think he's my _biggest_ fan."

"Let us unpack this parcel," Starfire said eagerly.

Cyborg, Raven and Robin all shrugged, looking at one another, amused by the joy the other Titans got from having a 'biggest fan'. They watched the two tear open the box, much as a child does on Christmas day.

"Whoa, dude, it's a candy machine-thingy!" Beast Boy shouted. "This is the happiest day of my life… Well, one of, anyway…"

"What does it do?" Starfire asked, eyes sparkling with wonder.

"It's a candy dispenser," Robin said, eyeing the device. It had a sparkly red metallic body, with a clear glass bubble on top holding the candy.

"Yep! You turn the knob, and then the candy comes out that little door right there," Cyborg explained. "You just push the flap back with your hand, and… Voila! You've got candy!"

"Delightful!" Starfire exclaimed. "May we?"

"Yeah!" Cyborg and Beast Boy yelled simultaneously, and the three of them started to tussle for the first candy from the machine.

Robin smiled, shrugging slightly, while Raven glared on. "Er… want one, Raven?" he asked.

She raised an eyebrow. "No."

"Alright then," he said, sighing slightly in defeat.

"Oh, it is _delicious_!" Starfire squealed. Cyborg and Beast Boy nodded, each having one of the abnormally large, coloured spherical candies in their mouths. "Friends! Try one!" she gestured towards Robin and Raven.

"It's alright, Star," Robin said, shrugging. "It's too early in the morning for sugar."

"It's past eleven," Raven reminded him, with a glower that concealed a smirk. Robin instinctively rubbed the sore spot on his head where she literally had clocked him. Now she let the smirk show through.

"Hey, what's this?" Cyborg asked, finding an envelope inside the box. They had overlooked it in their excitement. "An envelope!"

"Well… open it!" Robin urged.

"Yeah! Open it quick!" Beast Boy said, excitedly.

Cyborg tore the envelope open, revealing… a note attached to three tickets. Each Titan bore a similar, slightly confused expression. They were all curious as to what the tickets were for, or what the note read, but primarily they were confused by the number. Three. There were _five_ Titans, after all, and consequently everything occurred in fives.

Cyborg examined the tickets. "Plane tickets?" he said, confusion still evident in his voice.

Robin took the note, then read it aloud. "'Dear Titans, Well first I just have to say that what you do is amazing, and that, well, I love you. Beast Boy, I think you're hilarious.'"

Robin paused as they all simultaneously raise their eyebrows, except for Beast Boy, whose face positively lit up.

Robin continued to read. "'Cyborg, I think you are the epitome of cool. Starfire, you're kind and sweet… not to mention gorgeous.' Er… the letter says that," Robin quickly said. "'Raven, you're so mysterious… and pretty too.' Again, that's the writer speaking… 'And Robin, I envy you. You're so strong and smart. You're a great fighter, and have amazing leadership and interpersonal skills. You lead the Titans confidently and with dedication. I wish I could be you.'"

The Titans stared blankly at Robin. "It seriously says that?" Beast Boy finally asked.

"Do you _think_ I would make something like that up?"

"Yes," Raven, Beast Boy and Cyborg answered unanimously. Starfire giggled.

"Whatever," he huffed, then continued reading. "'Anyway, I really appreciate what you're doing for the city. You've beaten countless powerful villains… such as Slade, Trigon and Control Freak… and you've always been there for us citizens of Jump City. I thought that it was about time you got the break you deserve. I've enclosed three plane tickets down south to the comic convention, and you'll stay four days at a hotel. Everything's been booked and paid for! Thanks again for your contribution to the city, and for providing me not one, but five role models I can look up to. Thanks! From, Your biggest fan.'"

The Titans sat there for a moment, digesting everything, before the room erupted with excitement and confusion. More specifically, Starfire, Beast Boy and Cyborg shared in the excitement, while Robin and Raven looked confused.

"Wait, there's more," Robin said, attempting to speak over the voices of his friends. Only Raven listened attentively. "'PS – Only three of you can go. Two of you need to watch over the city! Heheheheheheh,'" he read, mouth twisting into a smile as he read the written laughter.

"Oh… how considerate," Raven said, rolling her eyes.

"How are we going to decide who goes and who stays, then?" Robin asked.

"Looks like they've already decided," Raven said through clenched teeth. Cyborg, Starfire and Beast Boy each had snatched one of the tickets, holding onto it for dear life. Robin rolled his eyes.

Neither had really wanted to go, but that was beside the point. They knew that, quite simply, they wouldn't enjoy it as much as the others would. Raven did not like comic books, and was even more revolted by the stereotypical geeks who liked them. Besides, she didn't _do_ fun. And, well, someone had to keep Raven company…

"You better get packing, then," Robin said. "You should be at the airport in… half an hour!" At this, the three joyous Titans stopped dancing in victory over the tickets and all scrambled to their rooms to pack for the four days of utter geekdom.

The operations room was empty except for the two of them, now, and it was dreadfully quiet. "So, uh, looks like it's just the two of us, huh," he said, making conversation. Or at least trying to.

"I need to meditate," was all she said, and walked away, leaving Robin alone.

Robin sighed slightly. She was a challenge, alright. She was quiet, mysterious and downright perplexing. And he liked it. He liked the thrill of trying to get her to smile, or make her laugh. He even liked trying to get her annoyed or irritated. It was… a game. But Robin's games never ended until he'd won.

He hated himself for thinking that way. He didn't want to think of her as some little puzzle where, once he'd cracked her, he'd tire of her and throw away. But he couldn't think of any other explanation for it, so he came to accept it.

He heard footsteps, sounding more like a stampede, as Beast Boy, Cyborg and Starfire ran with their luggage out of the building. He hadn't seen, but he'd known it was them. He heard the faint screech of the T-car as it raced away, and the Tower was filled with a hollow silence.

Robin had never hated silence. He was quite secretive, and kept things to himself. He often worked late at night when nobody was around, and liked to sometimes have time to himself, to just think and reflect.

But this time, he didn't want it. He didn't want that silence. He didn't want to be alone in that huge room, because he knew Raven just didn't want to be with him. He went out of his way to try and make her laugh, or smile, and playfully teased her trying to elicit a response – any at all – she could care less. No… it wasn't that she didn't mind. She minded, alright, and didn't like it. She plain didn't like him, and that hurt.

Robin sighed inwardly, sitting down on the round couch. He absentmindedly ran his glove through his hair, before grabbing a Gamestation controller. He turned the Gamestation on, ready to play Mega-Monkeys 4, when…

"Greetings, Robin. Your number-one nemesis has returned yet again!" a voice boomed, followed by maniacal laughter. The gigantic face of Control Freak was plastered across their enormous TV screen.

The normally composed Robin actually jumped; this had been the last thing he'd expected. He tried not to display the disgust he felt, however was not completely successful. After all, Control Freak's face, magnified a couple hundred times, was enough to bring anyone to tears.

"You're trying to hard to sound evil," a voice said from behind him. Raven. Her voice was flat in tone, however her eyes twinkled, and mouth was twitching as if she was trying to repress a smile or laugh. Robin had the uncomfortable feeling that she wasn't laughing at Control Freak; she was inwardly laughing at his own little spaz attack.

"Really?" Control Freak asked. His face contorted into - Robin couldn't believe it – a twisted attempt at the puppy-dog face. Robin couldn't help but grimace. Raven couldn't help but smirk.

"Well," Control Freak continued, regaining composure after eliciting no response from Raven. "I am back, and I have already set my devious plan into action! Shall I go into detail, explaining my sinister plot?"

"We couldn't stop you if we tried," Raven said dryly.

Control Freak beamed. "That wasn't a compliment," Robin said, watching as Control Freak's large face fell again, before he started laughing evilly again.

"Well, Titans, prepare to face my wrath! For I am about to unleash upon you something most terrifying and utterly evil! Are you ready for this?"

"Yes – you're wasting our time," Robin said, annoyed. Nobody had any patience for Control Freak. Ever. Not even Robin.

"Well, let's see. How about a little back story first, hmm? Don't evil villains usually start with that?"

Robin rolled his eyes for what seemed to be the millionth time in a matter of seconds. "No."

"Well… seeing as I am the baddest villain you've ever faced, I will anyway, because I'm a trendsetter! Well, it all started out online… 10:23 pm. Online forum. The absolute best online forum there is… _my_ forum.

"Unfortunately, though, as I scrolled through the posts, I realized that – could it be? Several members had left my forum! And with that, a few of them left a parting message… _'Goodbye, BBStar 4ever. You've been a great forum_,_ however… I've decided to join… xXRobxStarXx's fan club, as the sudden realization has donned upon me that they were meant for each other.'_"

Robin's eyes widened, slightly terrified. "BB… Star? Rob… Star? Is he referring to maybe us?" he muttered under his breath.

"And the other half that left… they departed with another message… _'BBStar4ever, it's been fun. And I will always have a place in my heart for you. But I'm sorry to say, that I must leave, as I have grown to realize that xoxBB-Raexox is where I truly belong. Thanks for the great times, and I'll always remember you. But BBRae forever!"_

Robin's mouth gaped. Raven's was closed, as if trying not to be sick.

"So you see, Titans; I had to do something. I couldn't stand for that! So I consulted my numerous handbooks on evildom, and decided how I should remedy the situation. And of course, I figured that the only way to get my loyal followers back was to make sure RobStar and BBRae could absolutely never happen!" he said, rubbing his hands together in an attempt to appear sinister.

Raven looked slightly worried. Robin was in his fighting stance, ready to take on anything. His mind was rapidly thinking of what Control Freak might use to annihilate them. Maybe an army of giant robots would materialize in Titans' Tower, or maybe he would transport them to another dimension…

"So as I'm sure you've already figured out, I sent your other friends on a little trip, so I could get you alone!"

"What did you do with them?" Robin demanded.

Control Freak's unibrow raised a bit. "Oh… I just sent them to the comic convention," he said. "Why? Should I have done something with them?"

"No," Robin said, patience wearing thin.

"But then, I can meet them there!" Control Freak said, breaking into evil laughter again. Raven and Robin both rolled their eyes for the umpteenth time. "I'm going right after I'm finished with you! Haha, I see you're shaking with fear!"

"No we're not," Raven said blandly.

"Yes you are! Well, I knew that you two would stay behind! And also in the package – remember the candy machine? Well, I knew you two would resist that as well! Which is why my plan is so flawless – I know all of yours!"

"All of our what?" Robin asked quizzically.

"Flaws!" Control Freak exclaimed.

"When bad guys have a climactic statement, it has to be clear and concise. The good guys have to understand it without further explanation," Robin said, smirking ever-so-slightly.

Control Freak jotted some notes down in a notebook, nodding as Robin spoke. Raven slapped her hand to her forehead. "Okay… mhmm, gotcha," Control Freak muttered as he wrote.

"Okay!" he said, resuming his evil rant. "Well, I set out to prove those n00bs wrong, and then it hit me. The only way to get you out of the way… would be to get you to break up with them!"

Raven and Robin exchanged sceptical glances. Was this guy for real? He was absolutely deranged. Although, they were grateful he hadn't even thought of the most obvious solution, which would be to kill them.

"Um, except for that we're not actually dating anyway," Raven said, disgusted at the thought of going out with Beast Boy.

"Concisely!" Control Freak smiled. "But those ignorami know nothing, and I need to prove it to them once and for all!"

"Ignoramuses," Raven corrected.

"Really?"

"Trust her. She's good with insults," Robin nodded.

Control Freak scribbled it down in his handy dandy notebook, before pocketing it and bringing out something else. It was, as expected, his insignia – a remote control.

"Oh, no, not another," Robin sighed.

"Why yes, Robin. Yes another! Supervillains always have a trademark weapon of doom!"

"Yeah. Except you're not a supervillain. You're an obese, creepy, gross old man who is wasting our time," Raven snapped.

Robin grimaced. Ouch. Control Freak's unibrow raised slightly.

"Sorry. Did I mention that you're obese, malodorous and a complete and utter failure at everything?" she said, maliciously.

Control Freak's beady eyes narrowed that much more, opening his mouth as if to say something, but nothing came out. Instead, he put his large fingers on the remote and pressed the proverbial big red button.

"Oh, way to go, Raven," Robin glared, before he was overcome with an enormous headache. Raven, too, was clutching her head, as Control Freak's device was put into action. They could hear delighted laughter over the noise inside their heads, as Control Freak laughed and clapped, much like a toddler.

The headache only worsened, and the noise got louder, and they could only make out small pieces of what Control Freak was rambling about. Something about how now he could guarantee that Beast Boy and Starfire could be together forever, as their actions would cause the other Titans to hate them, messing up every potentially intimate moment possible.

The noise inside their heads finally ceased as they passed out on the floor. Control Freak's unpleasant face disappeared from the gigantic television screen, and the Tower was filled with silence once again.

* * *

Raven slowly sat up, rubbing her head as she came to. She opened her eyes, blinking several times. The Tower looked… different. In fact, everything looked different. She could still see, yes, but it was like… It was like when she wore Robin's mask!

"What? Why am I wearing-" she stopped speaking abruptly, realizing that her voice had changed too. She gasped, heart racing, hoping that the situation wasn't what she thought it was. She glanced down at her green, gloved hands, and then her matching pants. She swallowed nervously before leaping up to her feet and running towards the window.

In her reflection, she saw Robin staring back. His clothes, his body, his hair, his face… She nearly screamed, before realizing that boys couldn't really scream. And, lo and behold, her own body lay sprawled out on the ground before her. She cursed under her breath, running over towards her cloaked body. She rarely cursed, but this was indeed an occasion worthy of swearing.

She felt more agile and ran faster – Robin was quicker than her. "Oh no…" she muttered, grimacing at the male voice that came from her – his – lips.

"Robin?" she asked, nudging her own body. "Robin?"

Robin awoke to the sound of what sounded like his own voice. Confused, he opened his eyes first to the realization that he had no mask on. He touched his face with his fingertips, realizing that not only was he unmasked, but his gloves had been removed as well. He then realized that the one staring at him intently was none other but himself!

"What…" he trailed off, clasping his hands over his mouth. This wasn't his voice! This was…

"Raven?" he asked, disbelievingly. He stood up and glanced over at his reflection in the mirror just as Raven had done, seeing that he indeed was in Raven's body. "Oh… God, no…"

He ran his hands through his hair, realizing that it was Raven's luminous indigo locks that he had just touched. He glanced at his hands, seeing they were delicate and pale. The cloak around his shoulders was a royal blue, and quite heavy, too. He then looked down, but immediately looked back up, blushing furiously as he realized that, well, to be quite blunt, he now had breasts. A couple plates and glasses shattered in from the kitchen area.

"What?" she asked snippily, seeing the blush upon his face. "You have to control your emotions."

"I… I know," he said, still feeling the blush upon his face. "Look! Look at the screen!" he said, seeing some text on the TV screen. He welcomed the distraction.

_Robin and Raven,_

_When you wake up, you will without a doubt realize that I am indeed the most evil villain of all time. Muahahahaha! You see now, that in four days, the two of you - the most socially inept when it comes to relationships – will absolutely mangle any relationship with Starfire or Beast Boy. Hahahaha! Now BBStar will be inevitable, and I'll have proven myself to the community and my forum will be most popular again! Oh, and you can't tell them. They are not allowed to know. If they find out, even if it is not from you, remember those lovely candies from the machine? Upon their finding out, toxins will be secreted and will flood their bodies. You wouldn't want that now, would you? Be good little Titans and keep up the charade, or else…! You have four days until they come back, and then you will stay in those bodies for an additional week. Have fun!_

_- Your biggest fan,_

_Control Freak_

"This isn't fair!" Raven whined after they had read the message. "I've already _had_ a situation where I was involuntarily put in someone else's body!"

Robin nodded absentmindedly, watching as the note disappeared from the screen. "Looks like we'll have to deceive the others into thinking that I really am you… and you're me," Robin said. He frowned. He'd have to work on mimicking Raven's tone of voice.

"Fine. Whatever."

"Hey… Think about it! It might be fun!" he said, grinning.

"Rule number one. No smiling. Rule number two. No dynamic expression can be displayed in voice tone," she said monotonously.

"Okay… rule number one for being Robin… No perma-frown. Frowning while in deep thought, or during a serious time is okay, but you have to smile once in a while. Rule number two, you have to have fun…"

"Raven's Powers 101," she continued, eyeing several objects with an ethereal black glow floating dangerously in the air. "Find your centre…"

* * *

Robin had caught on extremely quickly, Raven found. She supposed that, indeed, he was a very calm and composed individual most of the time, and did hide his emotions quite well. She'd always credited that to his mask, but she had to acknowledge that he deserved credit this time. He easily focused on the task at hand, and could control his thoughts and feelings with extraordinary talent. In fact, in what seemed to be no time at all, he was flying around the operations room, showing off by juggling three glasses with his powers.

"Don't get too cocky, bird boy," Raven said, but was quite amazed. He gently set the glasses on the counter, before swooping down and gracefully landing.

Raven started walking out the door into the corridors. "Where are you going?" he asked, flying to catch up, then flew alongside her.

"To meditate," was her automatic response. He looked at her, amusement twinkling in his eyes.

"You don't have to now," he said, reminding her.

"Doesn't mean I don't want to," she said, resentment in her voice. She didn't like being corrected.

"Come on. You're allowed to laugh, cry, smile, get angry, be afraid… and there won't be any consequence! Nothing will blow up, no manifestation of evil will come to life… You have freedom, Raven! There are no consequences!" he said convincingly.

She did not stop, nor did she show any signs of acknowledging she had heard a word. He couldn't tell what she was thinking behind the mask, and quickly realized how annoying it must be for the others when they couldn't tell what he was thinking.

"Well…" she started.

"Come on! We might as well have some fun. And we have to work on this act – we have to completely and thoroughly know what we're doing, or else they might get suspicious and… yeah," he said, not needing to finish his sentence.

"Well…" Robin stared at the smirk upon her face. She looked at him. "I could show you how to put on a bra."

_WHAM._

Robin crashed headfirst into a door then falling to the ground. He heard a slight laugh escape her lips, although it was with his voice. "Ow," he mumbled, sitting up.

"Watch it – that's my body you're injuring," she said in her usual emotionless manner, though amusement was still evident in her face.

Robin didn't reply; instead he stared at the door he had just crashed into. His eyes widened slightly, panic spreading through his body as realization hit him like a brick.

When he didn't answer, it hit Raven as well. It was the bathroom door. _Bathroom_.

"Holy fucking crisis, Batman," she uttered under her breath. "Control Freak is _more_ than evil. Trigon could take some pointers."

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER.**

Okay, so I had a little too much fun there. I absolutely love Control Freak and his geekiness! Muahahaha!

Review please!

- Penguin Pop


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you for so many incredible reviews! I can't believe the amazing response it's gotten.

Sorry it's taken so long… I've had to rewrite this soooo many times. It would never turn out quite right. But I am pretty happy with how the final version turned out. A little deeper, a little more serious… tell me what you guys think of it.

* * *

**More than Shoes**

_Chapter Two_

* * *

It would be a long day. Raven and Robin were sitting cross-legged on the floor of Raven's room, flipping through her countless spell books. They had tried to come up with some sort of solution or way to deal with their awkward situation, however they could think of nothing. They were stuck for days in each other's bodies… how could they _possibly_ think of a way to deal? 

Robin sighed heavily, shutting another gigantic spell book closed. "We're getting nowhere, Rae."

Raven glanced up from the old book in her lap to look at him. "Come on. There must be _some _way of handling this in a professional and diplomatic manner…" The tone in her voice, however, completely contradicted the hopeful words she spoke.

"Face it. There's absolutely no way we can retain even the slightest amount of dignity or privacy in this situation," Robin replied.

"How about we go search the city, find Control Freak right now, and beat him until he changes us back?"

"We have no idea where Control Freak is, and even if we did, we wouldn't be able to take even him in this state, let alone leave the Tower," Robin sighed. "Since when were you one for blind optimism?"

"Since when where you one to give up so quickly?"

"Must be your negative influence," he smirked. "And my patience is wearing thin - honestly, how much herbal tea did you _drink_ this morning?"

Raven's glare was lost behind the mask, so she opted for teasing. "A few mugs. Can't handle it?"

Robin just gave a slight smirk. He had a thousand sarcastic or flippant or even suggestive answers already formulated in his mind, but he knew he should restrain himself. It was quite often that he found he had to make a conscious effort to stop himself from pestering her.

"Alright, Raven. We're just going to have to do this and get through it in the most professional manner possible," he said, his tone suddenly professional and lacking any tone that might imply she was anyone but a stranger.

"Yes," she finally agreed. She swallowed hard, trying to stop from blushing.

Robin stood up, and gave her a slight smile, before going to face a most formidable opponent – the toilet.

Raven watched the blue cloak swish as he left the room. She ran a gloved hand through her hair, teeth clenched as the blush on her face refused to fade. All she could do was thank the stars that it wasn't that time of the month.

* * *

He could usually keep his cool in the tensest of situations, however Robin's nerves were absolutely shot by the time he had entered the bathroom. He stared in the mirror, making sure that this was indeed real. _"Come on,"_ he whispered to himself under his breath. _"Control… Control your emotions…"_

This would be so much easier if Raven wasn't so pretty.

Carefully, he undid Raven's blue cloak and hung it up. He couldn't help but stare at Raven's body without the cloak. The shiny black leotard hugged her body, contrasting greatly against her pale skin. He kind of wished she would forgo the cloak every now and then. He then mentally slapped himself to stop thinking like the hormonal teenager he just might be.

"_Now where is the zipper…?"_ he wondered, searching for the small discreet zipper hidden in the seams. _"Aha._" He hesitated a bit, delicate fingertips placed on the small metal zipper, then closed his eyes and pulled.

He could _feel _the objects floating dangerously by dark magic in the air around him. _Control,_ he reminded himself, desperately trying to focus on the task at hand… or perhaps on anything _but_ the task at hand. He took a few slow, deep breaths, then slowly opened his eyes again.

Unfortunately, his eyes had decided to open looking straight at the mirror.

**Crash.**

Glasses shattered and toothbrushes flew through the air, while bottles of hair products crashed noisily to the ground.

"Holy…"

Robin blushed furiously, averting his eyes immediately from the mirror. He hadn't _meant_ to open his eyes directly at the mirror… but still, he felt full-fledged guilt creeping up on him. The guilt was only partially due to the fact he had seen her underwear… it was mostly, however, due to the fact that he had _liked_ what he'd seen.

Even though he had averted his eyes and was staring intently at the black-and-white checkered flooring, the image of Raven's underwear-clad body was burned in his mind. _Get a grip,_ he sighed, aware again of the hormonal teenaged side of him that was there, despite how hard he tried to suppress it.

"_Who woulda thought Raven was one for lace?"_ he thought, despite himself.

Underneath that no-nonsense leotard was a black bra that matched her panties, strewn with lace and bows. _Pink lace and bows_. Perhaps Raven _was_ 'girly' deep down, after all.

"_Control, control, control…" _Robin whispered rapidly, willing the towels and bath mat to stay put. After a few moments, the black crackle of magic seemed to subside, and his heart rate returned to normal. _"Okay… okay… I can do this,"_ he whispered to himself, determinedly averted his eyes, and pulled down Raven's lacy panties.

* * *

He had been in there for at least ten minutes, Raven noted. She'd heard the unmistakable noise of glass shattering, along with other sounds of destruction. Likely the toothbrushes and hair products. 

She didn't blame him for the destruction. Most people would have been upset, and uncomfortable, as he must be. After all, there couldn't have been any other explanation other than distress, Raven figured.

"Are… you _okay_ in there?" she asked, knocking on the door. She'd heard the running water of the tap. He was done… What was taking him?

"Y-yeah… _yeah_," he said through the door.

"I don't have to come in there and help you?" she taunted.

"No… no… got it all under control…"

"How many objects are about to explode," she asked, though her tone of voice was monotonous and implied more of a statement.

"Ten," he sighed.

"Okay… close your eyes and repeat the mantra several times. Azarath Metrion Zinthos," she guided.

"Yeah… yeah, okay," he said, voice still sounding a bit panicky.

She smirked slightly, having never heard Robin so anxious in his life. She could hear through the door the familiar words, being chanted. It was strange to hear her own voice repeating the mantra.

She listened on for a bit, then sighed and went to fetch a broom and dustpan to collect all the pieces of various objects that now surely lay on the tiled floor.

Upon returning with the broom and dustpan, she noticed Robin had finally come out of the bathroom, and to her relief, nothing was floating in mid-air. She couldn't help but notice the blush still apparent upon his face, although she then thought that perhaps he had been waiting for it to fade.

She walked into the bathroom and started sweeping. "So… don't worry, it's alright. We're both in the same position," she said. "We're both losing any sense of privacy to one another."

He nodded blankly, still seeming a bit dazed. She rolled her eyes.

"You better get used to it… I require an awful lot of herbal tea to function in the morning," she smirked. "Let's go make some lunch, hmm?"

"Sounds good," he answered, hoping to take his mind off things. "Hey… I'm gonna have to teach you how to cook," he remembered.

_Oh yeah. That's right. Robin has to cook…_ "You're saying I'm not good enough?" she asked, folding her arms over her chest in mock-defence.

"Uh… okay, I _would_ say 'yeah, pretty much,' but I don't think that's a good idea. So I'll just go ahead and say 'maybe'."

Raven rolled her eyes. _Oh, right. It doesn't work behind the mask. _She would have to find some new way of expressing her annoyance.

"Let's put it this way. If Robin started making those special pancakes that only Raven could ever make… they might assume something is up."

"Robin. I don't _do_ cooking," she sighed. "Trust me. It's pointless to even try. I couldn't make a decent meal if my life depended on it."

Robin stared at her. "But what about if the lives of your friends depended on it?"

Raven bit her lip. "Fine. I'll _try_. But don't expect anything," she sighed.

"Whatever," he said, mimicking her. He grinned. "How was that? Did I hold the 'r' long enough?"

Raven sighed. "Make it more fluid. More like one word. More emphasis on the 'what', less on the 'ever'."

"Whatever?"

"Better."

The two walked into the kitchen. It was kind of strange, seeing the operations room so empty. No GameStation or thumping music or squabbling over the remote. The realization that the two of them were all alone in the Tower really hit Robin right then, and he could see that recognition in Raven's face, too.

"Alright… so let's start with something simple. Um… pasta?" Robin offered.

"That's expecting a lot."

"I have high expectations," he said lightly. "Come on. Cooking a basic meal is simple. There's no art to it… you just follow a set of instructions."

"Except that I never see _you_ following a set of instructions. You, Cyborg, Beast Boy… Starfire… you never follow recipes. You go by instinct. It _is _an art."

"Perhaps it is an art," he conceded. "But perhaps I've just memorized the recipes. I've just done it enough so that I don't even have to think about it… second nature, I guess."

"We don't have the time to practice making a dish over and over and over again until it's engrained in my mind," Raven sighed. "This is useless."

"You said you'd try. You're making way too big a deal over this."

Raven scoffed. "You're the one who keeps mentioning how badly my pancakes turned out. You _know_ I can't cook at all."

"Believe me. It's easy."

"It's _not_ easy," she said, a sudden defensive edge to her voice.

"Come on. Just try cooking, for once, and you'll see. It's nothing, really."

A sudden look on her face made him wish he'd swallowed his words. "Don't you think I was trying?" she asked, voice eerily calm. Robin's eyes widened slightly. _Uh-oh._ The tone of voice was _exactly_ like his when he tried to conceal anger.

"Don't you think I _tried_ to make those goddamn pancakes?" she continued. Her voice was rising, and continued to do so. "I _tried_ as hard as I could. I wanted more than _anything_ to make you a decent breakfast."

"Raven-", he tried to interrupt, but his efforts were futile.

"I am not exaggerating, Robin, when I tell you that I put my _soul _into mixing and stirring and flipping the awful things, so that you would have the best last day on Earth possible."

She paused for a moment. Her voice went quiet, again, but her tone was ice cold. "I don't care that you couldn't stomach the pancakes, nor do I mind the incessant teasing about the incident. But, Robin, don't you _dare_ say I didn't _try_."

Robin was silent. This wasn't just about cooking anymore. His silence was not arrogant… he merely could not figure out what to say. The look in his eyes showed slight confusion, as well as a twinge of dejection. "I… I'm sorry, Raven," he said, earnestly though a bit confusedly. He hadn't meant anything of the sort. "I honestly did not mean…"

"Save it," she interrupted. He stopped.

She looked into his eyes. And she could see everything – his confusion, his honesty, his concern.

Her face softened; her voice warmed. "I… _I'm_ sorry… I don't know what's gotten into me. Lately I've just been so… I don't know…"

"Frustrated?" he offered, softly. He, too, could read the sincerity in her face.

"Maybe."

"With me," he noted.

"…Yeah," she agreed. It wasn't like her to discuss her feelings, but she felt she owed him an explanation at least, or as much of one as she could give. "Sorry," she offered, lamely. He shrugged.

"I don't know why. It's like the slightest action, word, gesture, will set me off. I'm normally not this careless with my emotions."

"Hm." He nodded once. He expected that to be it, and was ready for an awkward silence. But to his surprise, she continued.

"I usually… hide them…" she said, wanting more than anything to hide under a hood. "Keep them in check. But I'm having difficulty… and only around you," she said, cocking her head slightly to one side.

"And this was before we switched bodies," Robin asked in that stating kind of way. First her pancake rant, now speaking about her own emotions…

"Yes," she confirmed. "Your behaviour… has changed around me," she said, cautiously.

"I… I guess so," he shrugged. "We've become closer friends, Rae. All of the Titans. I guess it would be only natural that we act a bit differently around one another."

She wanted to say that, while that may be true, it was only with him that she felt frustrated, and that out of all the Titans, it was his behaviour that had changed much more drastically and still very subtly towards her. But she didn't want to press it. She didn't want it to lead to further questions, and didn't want him to think she read too far into things. She was thinking too much about him, was all she knew. "Yes," she agreed, dismissively.

"Robin?"

"Yeah?"

"…Will you still teach me to cook?" she asked, apologetically.

"Of course," he smiled. "I would love to. So what we're gonna do is grab a giant pot and a saucepan... yeah, under there. Now let's fill that bad boy up with some water…"

* * *

The aroma of spaghetti sauce filled the air, as the two Titans sat to eat their meal. "So what do you think?" Robin asked. 

"It's… actually not that bad!" Raven exclaimed, genuine surprise and delight in her voice.

Robin smiled. 'Not bad', coming from Raven, meant 'delicious'.

"Told you it wouldn't be so hard," he said, though his voice was not condescending or arrogant in the slightest; it was purposely soft and gentle.

"With the right mentor," she replied.

His smile grew a little, as he twirled more spaghetti around his fork. She gave a shy grin back, and Robin desperately wished that it had been her own face smiling back at him, rather than his. Genuine grins almost never happened, and when they did, it usually wasn't _him_ that had made her smile. Not in this way. No, it was more often Cyborg, maybe even Beast Boy.

"Give me some recipes," Raven said. "Ones you usually use. I'll need to memorize them."

"Yeah… you bet. Want a glass of water?"

She shrugged with a "sure", then watched as he demonstrated his mastery of her skills. He opened the cupboard doors, retrieved two glasses, then held them floating under the tap while turning the tap on, then off, filling them with water. He carefully floated the glasses over to the table and set them down, one in front of each of them, all without spilling a drop.

"Impressive," she said dully.

"_I _thought so."

They ate in silence for a few minutes, devouring the spaghetti. It was comfortable; unlike the other Titans, Robin and Raven could both respect and enjoy silence. Starfire did meditate with Raven on occasion, but she never preferred silence to speech.

"More?" Raven asked, interrupting the silence as she reached for more spaghetti.

"No thanks. You did a great job, but I'm full," he said, smiling slightly at her.

"_We_ did a great job. And… I'm still _starved_," she said, eyes narrowing in confusion. "Oh, right. Teenaged boys require ridiculously large portions of food. And frequently. And you, probably, even more, considering how active you are. This _better _not become a habit…"

Robin shrugged and smiled. "So… after eating, do you want to learn how to play video games?"

"Do I _want_ to learn how to play video games," she repeated, snorting slightly with laughter.

"O-kay… let me put it this way. _Will_ you learn how to play video games?"

"I suppose I must," she sighed. "We couldn't possibly avoid playing that awful racing game that you boys always seem to be playing?"

"Not a chance," he smiled. She scowled. "Unless…"

"Unless?"

"We went and bought a new videogame. A more story-driven one, I suppose… more logic, less mindless gory action. How does that sound?"

"Sounds… better," she shrugged.

"But I still have to teach you that 'awful racing game'."

Raven sighed in defeat. "Fine."

He waited patiently for her to finish eating, doing his dishes with his powers without moving an inch.

"You know I don't do that," Raven stated.

"What? …Ah, right. Dishes."

"With my _powers_," she said, rolling her eyes. "I've done them by hand… a couple times before…"

"Sure." He paused, a sudden thoughtful look upon his face.

"What?"

"Just… hmm. Raven… let's forgo the videogames for this evening, at least. I think we should just, you know, talk. There's a lot of stuff we'll need to cover, before the others get back."

She nodded. "This… will be uncomfortable," she said. "We're both very private people."

"I know. But it has to be done. As ridiculous as it may be, this is a mission. And the lives of our friends are at risk. It's up to us to ensure that nothing goes wrong. We can't afford to make any mistakes."

"Agreed. Sooo… how, exactly, are we gonna start talking?" she asked, finishing off the last of her dinner. Robin took her plate and started to wash it, partly out of courtesy but perhaps mostly out of habit.

"Like… truth or dare, without the dare component? Truth or truth?" he offered. She raised an eyebrow.

He continued. "We'll alternate, going back and forth, asking anything and everything about each other. No holds barred – we're going all the way here. I'll tell you everything."

Her face showed an obvious discomfort at the notion of revealing all her secrets, even to Robin. Maybe especially to Robin. She knew it would be fine with questions about her past; it was all the other trivial matters that she never disclosed. She didn't know why she kept secrets, even when they didn't matter. She just had never been an open person.

"Here… we'll start off with something easy," Robin said, finishing washing Raven's dishes and floating over to the couch. "What's your favourite colour?"

"Blue. But you already knew that, didn't you?"

"Of course; I just thought it might be easier to start by asking something that wouldn't be new information for you to have to disclose."

"Okay… So why did you figure it better to ease me into the game, than forcing me straight away with deeper questions?"

"Because," he replied, "I know you. I knew it would be better."

She looked at him curiously, before giving an affirmative nod.

He spoke again, with another question. "What colour do you think my eyes are?" he asked.

"I… never thought about it," she said, dismissively. She could detect a hint of, what was it, dejection in his eyes? She had, of course, often wondered. Probably more, even, than any of the other Titans had.

"You… honestly haven't?" he asked, not expecting, or at least not hoping for, that answer.

"That's another question," she pointed out.

"You didn't answer my first question."

"I did. I said I hadn't thought about it."

"And I asked what colour you think they are, not whether or not you had thought about it."

She was quiet. "Why?"

"Answer my question first."

She sighed. "Logically," she said, slowly, "I would assume them to be brown, since you have black hair, and the chances are much higher. But…" She paused, pondering.

He surveyed her carefully, but couldn't detect anything from her face or body language as she spoke. He waited patiently.

"I can imagine them as… I don't know, green… or hazel… or grey…"

He continued to watch her. Her brow was furrowed slightly. She was genuinely thinking hard about it. Her face slowly relaxed again into an emotionless state, seemingly coming to a conclusion.

"Whatever. I'll guess brown."

"Okay," he shrugged.

"Now… Why?"

"I've always wanted to know what you thought they'd look like," he shrugged.

"Well the others… Cyborg thought they'd be brown… Beast Boy thought they'd be grey… and, uh, Starfire thought they'd be pink."

"Hm," he smirked, amused.

"I thought Starfire would have seen your eyes before," she said emotionlessly.

"Trust me… they're not pink," he smiled slightly. "I haven't showed anyone, Starfire included. Why would you think Starfire would have seen them?"

Raven fought back the slightest of blushes. "I kind of… thought… there had been something, you know? Between you two."

"…I see," he said. "There isn't. She is a wonderful girl, and I love her as a friend or a sister, even, and there's no denying she's physically attractive," he said, laughing a bit. "But there's never been anything romantic between us."

"My turn." His voice went gentle and quiet. "Have you ever been in love?"

She stared at him straight in the eyes. He was almost glad that he couldn't see the expression in her eyes beneath the whites of the mask. _Almost_.

"I was once in love… with love itself," she said, slowly. "I had wanted someone to like me and hold me and not think I was… creepy… But you can't love someone if they never loved you back…"

"…Are you sure?" Robin asked, unsure of the answer himself.

"I'm not sure of anything regarding the matter," she replied. "But I was never in love with Malchior. I was in love with the idea of someone loving me. I have not ever been in love."

Robin felt an overwhelming urge to somehow protect her, put his hand on her shoulder, say something. Anything. But he found himself frozen, tongue-tied. He wasn't good at this sort of thing. In fact, he was quite awful. He hated the silence. It seemed to last an eternity.

She wasn't looking at him. Her gaze was elsewhere, and she didn't catch him watching her anxiously. She was staring out the window, expression on her face undeterminable.

Finally, she spoke. "You?"

He paused. "I don't know."

"Hmm." She looked away from the window. "Well… your turn," she shrugged. "Ask me something."

The contemplative look on his face disappeared, and was replaced by that sure, cocky smirk. "Which of the Titans," he said, speaking slowly and deliberately, "do you find most attractive?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Aqualad, if you must know," she said, with a slight smirk.

"Uh… second best?"

"Speedy," she replied nonchalantly, but smiling knowing it would bother him. _Boys and their egos_.

"Third?"

"Give it a rest, Robin. Besides, you skipped my turn. And now that you've officially invaded my private affairs…"

"Hey… you know… I think that's enough for today, hmm?" he said, hopefully. "Resume tomorrow, perhaps? Don't want to, you know, overdo it…"

Raven smirked. "Alright, Boy Wonder. Tomorrow. Give me a night to think about it…"

Robin sighed. "So. Video games?"

"If we must."

* * *

The evening went by quickly. And so did the night. They'd gone through countless different video games by now, trying to get Raven up to Robin's level of mastery over each. They'd been at it for hours upon hours. And she had barely complained. No, Raven wouldn't admit it, but she was actually…enjoying herself. 

"Hey, no fair! Cheap shot!" Robin exclaimed, as his character was wounded and let out a dramatic cry.

"Tough," Raven shrugged, with a smirk.

"You know, it's getting kinda late," he noted.

"Yeah, after I started winning," she scoffed.

He just smiled, amused. "Never thought you'd be one for video games," he remarked.

"I never said I was," she said defensively.

"You didn't have to admit to anything – I can tell. You're having _fun_," he said, smirking a little.

"As _if_." She stood up and turned the Gamestation off.

He smirked. "Alright, so you won't admit to liking video games. But you must have at least enjoyed-"

"Spending time with you?" she interrupted, her voice mocking in tone. She laughed harshly. He winced mentally.

"I don't _do_ fun, Robin," she said. "And I don't 'enjoy', either." Her voice was colder, more distant.

"…So I've been told," he said, his voice a little quieter.

"What," she demanded at the change in tone, looking at him and narrowing her eyes a little.

He didn't look up. "I thought we were past this," he said, voice quieter still.

"Past _what_," she asked.

"Past the whole 'I don't do fun' thing," he replied. "Past the part where you close yourself off and refuse to admit to feeling or caring."

She shook her head. "I don't know what you're talking about, or where you're going with this. It's been a long day, so let's just get some sleep," she said. "Goodnight, Robin."

He nodded once as she walked out of the room. "Goodnight, Raven."

Robin noticed once again just how big and just how empty the operations room was. He could swear he could hear the echoing of his breaths.

And he just stood there, for a few moments, overlooking the glittering water that reflected the stars in the sky. His gaze eventually shifted from out the window to the reflection in it, seeing Raven's cold violet eyes staring back at him. He blinked a couple times, before heading to Raven's room.

He unfastened the cloak and hung it up, but didn't bother changing to pyjamas or something more comfortable than the leotard. He lay down on top of the bed, not bothering to get under the covers, and switched off the already dim lights.

She had been having fun, hadn't she? Because he had. He'd enjoyed spending time with her.

She'd closed herself off, and her icy walls had been put up once again. Maybe he'd gone too far, too personal with the questions. But he had wanted to know – even _needed_ to know – and he'd thought they'd made progress. He thought it had been a _good_ thing, and that their friendship had become even closer just over this one day. But then, maybe she'd realized it, and it had all been for nothing, and they were back to the start.

Robin wasn't sure what was worse – if she really was telling the truth and actually hadn't enjoyed his company, or if she was hiding the truth because she wasn't comfortable enough with him or close enough to him to be honest about something so small, so simple.

He shivered slightly, without the blankets, but still did not get under the covers. He lay on his side and brought his knees to his chest. He glanced at the window, gazing at the stars, and sighed.

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER**

That's all for now, folks… Let me know what you think!

I'll try to update soon, and not leave poor Robin hanging here, but the keyword there is 'try', and 'soon', well… it's all relative!

_-Penguin Pop_


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks for the reviews and support. Sorry again for the delay… I've been reworking it over and over. There were a few ideas and speculations in the chapter that I liked, but I couldn't seem to get the context right. They were awkwardly strung together, and kind of still are... Anyway, I'll try to just get it up and leave it be next time!

**xxxx**

**More than Shoes**

_Chapter __Three: An Early Return_

**xxxx**

Raven glanced at the alarm clock by her side. 5:43 AM, it read. Her first instinct was to drift back off to sleep, and so she closed her eyes. She then realized she was wide-awake, but she lay there, resting, anyway. Opening her eyes again, she noticed the clock read 5:45. It was pointless to stay in bed, so she got up, slightly disoriented in the immaculately tidy room.

She found the neatness a little unsettling. Sure, she was rather disgusted by Beast Boy's pigsty of a room, but at least it looked like someone lived there. Even a hotel room seemed more like a real home than this room ever would. Titan's Tower, it seemed, was not his home.

No, a real room should have things in it. Personal touches. Everyone knew Raven had hoards of interesting books, mirrors, statues, and other things in her room (the rule that nobody was allowed in her room was short-lived – her room seemed to be the most visited out of all the Titans'). And the décor, even if a little on the gloomy side, was unique; when someone entered her room, they knew that she cared about her room. They knew that Raven lived there.

Looking around, she saw only ivory walls and wood paneling. There were plenty of shelving units and closet space, but she saw nothing that would reveal anything about him outside from the title of "Robin". Bo-staffs, training equipment, uniforms, masks. No interesting items, no CDs, no posters, no photographs. All work, no play.

She grabbed a fresh uniform from the closet and headed to the shower, eager to get out of the room. Of course, it soon struck her that she would far prefer to be in Robin's room than the bathroom… in the shower… in Robin's body…

She laughed to herself, knowing full well that almost any other girl in Jump City would kill to be in her position right now. He wasn't Teen Queen Magazine's Heartthrob of the Year for nothing. But she couldn't help but wonder, how could they decide such a thing when they'd never even seen his eyes?

'_Oh. Right. The eyes,_' she remembered, realizing that taking a shower meant taking everything off, including the mask. And taking the mask off was, in Raven's opinion, possibly more intrusive than taking off his pants.

She hurried out of Robin's room. She'd just get it over with as quickly as possible, and focus on everything other than the task at hand. She just would ignore the fact that he was a boy, and that he was a good-looking one, at that.

So when she reached the bathroom, she had no difficulty when it came to undoing the tunic. Nor any difficulty when she took off his shirt. And even the pants, she was okay with taking off.

When it came to the boxers, she made an effort to think about the colour of paint on the walls and the number of ceiling tiles. But it was okay – after all, she'd already had to overcome this situation when she'd needed to use the toilet. Something she'd conquered quite well, she'd thought.

But when her bare hands reached up to her face, she noticed her hands trembling slightly. It wasn't as if she was going to see anything – she'd made a point of turning away from the mirror. But the gesture itself she felt uncomfortable with. She wondered what Robin thought of it all.

She carefully pried off the mask, closing her eyes and, bracing herself, stepped into the shower.

**xxxx**

Slowly arising from his slumber, Robin noticed the glow of yellow sunlight washing through and warming the greyish and purple tones of Raven's room. He had scarcely been in Raven's room in daylight, and it was unbelievably different; it was amazing how a bit of light could vanquish all signs of creepiness or gloominess.

He looked at an intricately carved clock on her wall, reading approximately 9:30 – quite a bit later than he normally woke up. He subconsciously rubbed his eyes, then shoved the covers aside and got out of bed. Glancing down at his slender pale hands, then noticing his… _assets_, he winced, remembering yesterday's events. "Only ten more days to go…" he muttered under his breath.

He grabbed a towel, about to head to the bathroom, but then he remembered Raven usually showered in the evening, and tossed it aside. The others probably wouldn't notice if Raven was showering at a different time of day; they generally weren't as observant or suspicious as he was – most people weren't, and it was probably healthier that way. But just in case, he would get in the habit of showering in the evening.

Still, for now he would change into a clean uniform. …Not that he _wanted_ to get changed, or anything.

He found the discreet zipper to her leotard and tugged on it, and after managing to get the costume off, brought it over to the laundry hamper. A large mirror just so happened to be positioned next to the hamper. It wasn't his fault that she'd positioned it like that…

He knew he shouldn't be staring, but it was difficult not to. And, well, it wasn't as if Raven was _completely_ undressed… she still had on her undergarments. And besides, they were less revealing than some – _most_ – of Star's swimsuits.

As he glanced at the reflection in the mirror, he was mesmerised by the perfection in her curves, and the way the black undergarments with powdery pink bows and lace contrasted starkly against her pale ivory skin.

After a second he collected himself, tearing his gaze away and walking over to her dresser. He opened one of the drawers, finding pyjamas. He hadn't known Raven wore pyjamas – but then again, one can hardly be expected to wear a uniform every night. He took a look at some of them – no cutesy animals or anything, but still a surprising amount of colour. One side of the drawer had some plain, some lacy camisoles; the other side had pyjama pants and boxer shorts, generally with some sort of pattern. The colours weren't too vibrant, but it was colour nonetheless. His favourite was a pair of light pink boxer shorts – it was so atypical, yet somehow seemed to suit her. He'd be sure to wear them tonight.

In the next few drawers, he found various civilian clothes. He hadn't even thought about whether or not Raven even owned civvies. Yet she seemed to have a lot… probably due to the fact Starfire made a point of dragging her to the mall on a weekly basis. He quickly looked through, finding quite a variety. There were many gothic styled clothes that one might expect, but also some surprisingly normal garments. She had some sweaters, halter tops, jeans – things he would never expect to find her wearing. She had the occasional band tee (even the names of the bands sounded frightening), and more shocking, a few skirts. He was constantly finding out more and more about this mysterious girl.

After looking through the drawers with tops and bottoms, he found the undergarments. Black dominated the drawer, but there were many other colours – white, pink and red among them. Lace and bows were abundant. He quickly grabbed the first set, and shut the drawer.

And then…

And then what? He struggled for what seemed like an eternity to unlatch the back of the bra, and to no avail. He sighed, figuring desperate times called for desperate measures.

**xxxx**

Raven closed her eyes, leaning back against the back of the seat, sipping her warm herbal tea. She knew that she maybe shouldn't be drinking it when the other Titans came home, since Robin scarcely drank tea by his own will, but she figured that Robin was always up before the others anyways; if she drank it early enough, she wouldn't be caught.

She felt a presence in the room. Rather than with her powers, like she normally would, she felt it with Robin's hyper-alert senses. As softly as he was treading, she could hear his footsteps, and she could smell the very slight scent of summer rain (well, that's what the label called it, anyway). She could even feel it in her body, on her skin; his body was trained to sense those approaching.

"Robin," she said, calmly, without turning around, mimicking him quite accurately. She sensed him stepping forward.

Slowly, she turned her head to face him, then opened her eyes to confirm that it was him.

She choked on her tea. "What the _hell_ do you think you're doing?"

"I… need help," he said with as much confidence and poise as he could, but still blushing like crazy. "I struggled with it for a while… couldn't figure it out."

"And you needed to ask for help _here_, in the middle of our kitchen-slash-dining room-slash-living room-slash-_everything_ room, in _only_ underwear," she said, in disbelief.

"It's not like anyone is here to see," he shrugged.

"What if there had been?" she asked. "What if someone else had come by?"

"Well so what? You look good. You shouldn't be so self-conscious," he said, direct with his words.

She wasn't sure what to say. "…Just because I don't want the entire world to see me parade around in my underwear does not mean I'm self-conscious," she said, finally. Outwardly indignant, inwardly flustered.

There was a prolonged silence, and the awkwardness of the situation finally struck him. "So, um… hey. Come back to your room and help me?" he asked, walking back to her room without waiting for a reply.

**xxxx**

"This is ridiculous," she muttered, as Robin sat on the edge of the bed. "You _honestly_ couldn't figure it out."

He reddened slightly. "Yeah… But hey, it's not like I'm supposed to be good at this sort of thing, right?"

"I bet Speedy's mastered it," she smirked.

"Why would Speedy be wearing… Oh. Nevermind. Gotcha."

She laughed lightly, then took his hands and guided them, showing him how to latch and unlatch the undergarment.

"See? It's not so hard."

He blushed slightly. "Thanks," he mumbled. "So… want to do some training after breakfast?"

"Sure," she shrugged impassively. "Guess we should."

"First, though… pancakes? Second time's the charm…"

Raven looked as if a miniature rain cloud had just formed over her head. "You know I can't…"

"No, I swear… last time they were… well they weren't… that…" he trailed off. "This time they'll be great! I promise."

"I… I guess," she shrugged.

Robin put on a new leotard and cloak, and the two headed for the kitchen.

Putting the ingredients together, Raven found, wasn't so bad in itself. She could memorize the recipe in the morning before going into the kitchen. The problem lay more in the actual cooking of the food.

"Whoa, Raven! Watch the stove!"

"I'm watching it!" she retorted, though saw the black smoke start to rise. She desperately grabbed the spatula and frantically scraped at the mess in the pan. Robin grimaced as a mess of burnt black crust and gooey batter was scraped onto the plate.

"You've gotta be more patient," he instructed. "Turn the heat down, and let them cook through first."

She sighed and nodded, pouring more batter into the pan, starting over.

After the last batch had been cooked, Robin could see significant improvement. On her own, she'd managed to produce pancakes that _weren't_ runny in the centre, and were only slightly darker than desired.

He grinned at her as he took a bite out of her latest creations. "They're pretty good!" he exclaimed, giving her a thumbs up.

She smiled slightly. "Robin… you can't do that when you're _me_," she reminded him. The grin looked strange on her pale face, and the thumbs up certainly looked out of place.

"We've got a few days before they get back," he shrugged. "Might as well act cheery while I still can…"

"I can be happy," she argued.

"Yes… but… cheery?" he rubbed the back of his neck.

"I can…" She faltered. "Fine. Maybe not."

He smiled slightly. "Let's go train."

**xxxx**

The sun shone brightly outside, as they stood on the rooftop. Their capes were off and they faced each other, ready to spar.

Raven reached for her belt and withdrew a bo-staff. She extended it, ready to fight.

"Whenever you're ready," Robin nodded.

She charged straight at him, bo-staff in hand, ready to attack. He dodged her attack, but expecting that, she planted the staff into the ground and used it as leverage to swing her body around and kick him in the side.

He got up and made to strike her, but she was too fast. She blocked and neatly punched him in the face before he could dodge or defend. She then swung at him with the bo-staff, hitting him square in the stomach.

His body was slower and much more vulnerable. But then, he remembered that he had other powers. As she came at him with her fist, he sunk neatly into the roof, then appeared again behind her, striking her with his arm and sending her flying. He didn't feel so bad about hitting her now that she looked like himself.

She yelled in surprise, picking herself up off the ground. As soon as she stood, Robin hit her with energy blasts into the wall. He was relentless.

She cried out as her back made impact with the wall. He flew towards her and pinned her against the brick, crushing her wrists with his hands.

Raven gritted her teeth, before kicking him in the stomach with both her feet. He was knocked back, and she took the opportunity to hit him with the bo-staff, right over the head.

He was knocked to the ground, and she leapt on top of him, preparing to land another blow to his face. Her wrist was caught, though, restrained by dark energy.

Robin smirked at her surprise, then in one graceful movement, slid out from under her and with a back flip, kicked her with his legs and landed on his feet.

She rolled over and he stood over her, then as she struggled to move, he got to his knees and pinned her wrists down, this time kneeling on her thighs to keep her from kicking him off.

"Yo, they're on the roof!" they heard a familiar voice shout. They froze, panicked expressions on their faces.

"Hey guys, we- Oooh, boy. Looks like we're interrupting something," Cyborg said, his eye widening.

Robin felt his face go red as he realized how it must look. "No! Just… sparring…" he said frantically.

"Rae, you're red as a tomato!" Beast Boy laughed as he came bounding out behind Cyborg, followed by Starfire.

"I am not… Why are you back so early?" he asked, quick to change the subject.

"I dunno… _apparently_ yesterday was the _last_ day of the convention."

"Yeah… but the return tickets for the plane ride were for today too. And the hotel had only had us scheduled to stay for the one night," Cyborg shrugged.

"Why is it that our mysterious benefactor would tell us it ended three days from now, I wonder," Starfire said, her eyebrows knitting together slightly.

_He wanted us to be caught offguard_, Raven realized, and knew Robin knew it too. There were so many things they still hadn't practiced and so many things they still didn't know about one another.

"You can get off now, _Raven_," she said. "The sparring match is over…" He blushed, realizing he was still on top of her, and leapt to his feet.

He opened his mouth to apologize, but thought better of it. Raven would rather pretend it never happened. He composed himself and grabbed his cloak. "I need to meditate."

Beast Boy snickered, but Robin heard. He put on his best Angry-Raven face, and apparently did a convincing job, as Beast Boy was now cowering in a corner. "Idiot," he remarked, striding off.

Beast Boy sighed, watching as Robin strode off to his room. "Well looks like you two had fun without us…" he winked.

Raven struggled to keep her anger from showing. "We were training," she said, her voice calm. "Nothing more. There is nothing between us."

Maybe her voice had been a bit too cold, she realized with worry, as the others looked at her a little strangely.

"…Okay, whatever, man," Beast Boy shrugged. "But dude! Come on! Check out some of the sweet stuff we picked up! We got limited edition comics and original artwork and collectible action figures and pictures of all these people we met that were dressed up…!"

She rolled her eyes. "Like I would-" she stopped herself. "-Miss out on a chance to see all that… _amazing_ stuff. It sounds… _awesome_." She almost laughed out loud at how awkward she sounded. Luckily the mask had covered her eye roll, and somewhat hid her face, as she couldn't bring herself to look _excited_.

"Yeah, c'mon!" Cyborg and Beast Boy raced ahead. They were a little dense, but Starfire seemed to have picked up on the awkward reluctance.

"Robin?" she asked slowly.

"Er… yeah?"

"You seem… tense," she said.

"No!" she shook her head. "No, I'm fine!"

She smiled, and took hold of her hand. "You do not convince me, Robin." She leaned in close to her ear. "Maybe I can assist you."

"That's quite alright!" Raven stiffened, edging slightly away. Starfire, however, didn't release her hand.

Raven swallowed hard. Today would be a long day.

**xxxx**

**END OF CHAPTER**

You can thank Spicycute199 for motivating me to FINALLY finish this chapter! I know this one might be a bit shorter than others have been, but I wanted to let you all know I'm still alive.


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